When I was for the first time in Veliko Tarnovo, in 2011, suggestion made by a friend, I got down in the railway station, I crossed the railway and the autoroute and I found myselt in a normal neighbourhood, askind myself why am I there! Then I walt into the center, then I discovered Tsarevets fortress, the capital of Bulgaria in 1100-1300, when the dominated the south and the north of the Danube, that period remaining with the name "The Second Kingdom of Bulgaria"! Who went into Veliko, knows what I mean, and for the people who was not, I can say that Veliko is kind of Brasov of Bulgaria.

And when I saw a few months ago that Sofia Opera House will play "Tosca" in Tsarevets, I said I can not miss the event! And I didn`t, even I was under a lot of presure, having plane in Bucharest for Rome the day after the show!

The opera summer festival is on its 6th edition, but it was not yearly, but also its routes ar in 1980-1985 years. The bulgarians are proud about the period when they dominated the Balkans and they are talking delited about this, and the festival came to remind also this period.

The scenografy were a good enough combination between modern and traditional. The start is with Angelotti followed by two gardians on the top of the walls of the fortres. He arives (into the church), he hides, Mario appears and he has white slepper and beret. Tosca, white long coat, black eye-glasses, red hair, kind of "to much" for my taste. Scarpia, black long coat (like secret services) and white scarf, his men dress almost in the same way. It is interesting the use of one flag with horisontal lines black-white-red, the flag of Roman Republic in the period of the opera action. Sant`Andreea della Valle, the church where is the first act, is simbolised with a big cross inclined, having on it images with the roman church and the picture painted by Mario. "Da mi colori! "

The second act has a simple decor, an office, a table, a coach and that`s all, but is luminated in a nice orange light. The jail of Mario is in the floor, represented by the white light which cames from the floor. Different by the other scenografies I saw before (Bucharest, Craiova, Munchen, Verona, Ruse), Mario not only claims the victory of Napoleon, but he hits Scarpia! The ideea looks good, because gives Scarpia a realistic reason to put Mario back to jail, after he was almost released by the "confetion" of Tosca.
"Vissi d`arte" was very good interpreted. In a decor when only Floria is luminated, under a full moon, the aria hade strongness and necessary colour.
And if Scarpia show its belly, increasing the aversion feeling of the role, I did not understand why Tosca undressed a few parts of her clothes before gaving up verbaly to Scarpia, but the red light which cover the scene is very well choosed.

I am not thinking the same about the blue in the start of the third act, which I don`t think it fits with the bitter soul of Mario. A child with a small horse opens the act, nice, the Mario appears "dressed" with a lot of chaines. The angel in the top of the fortress looks like the one in Sant`Angelo castel in rome, in some moments beaing luminated only itself. "E lucevan le stele"... and "le stele" where just above, completing the landscape and the aria well interpreted and with heart.

Mario dies, even only the gun-shotes are heard, the soldiers are not into the scene, a nice or not nice ideea, depending of the taste. Tosca dies, she did not throw herself from the top of the walls of Tsarevets, which would be realy tragic, but a scarf falls down from there. Alive remains the opera and the Tsarevets fortress, old by a few hundred years.

And, of corse, like in another many times, I found a Romanian even here! The conductor was Iurie Florea from Bucharest National Opera House, who kept up successfully the flag of Romania from the orchestra head office.

Distribution:
Floria Tosca: Radostina Nikolaeva
Mario Cavaradossi: Kostadin Andreev
Scarpia: Niko Isakov
Conductor: IURIE FLOREA (BUCHAREST, ROMANIA)

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